Did we not just live through the war on women so that free contraception would be available to all? Are we still fighting? I haven't heard from Sandra Fluke since she stopped campaigning for Obama after drawing crowds in the 1's in Nevada (if you hold a rally and no one shows up does it make a sound?) so I just assumed that women had won and republicans had lost.
Abstinence be damned!
Obama's health care law makes contraception free to everyone - well, almost everyone. To date, the following are exempt: Some religious groups, unions, Christian Scientists, Amish, Mennonite, American Indians, various companies and of course congress is still trying to exempt itself. All told, there are currently around 4 million people, give or take a million, who are exempt from the new health care law. So help me understand why, for the rest of us chumps who have no choice but to accept our free contraception - and like it - 15 year old girls need unchecked access to the Plan B abortion pill. That is what it is - an abortion pill. Don't get me wrong, I am pro-choice but lets not play politically correct with the description or action of this pill just to make ourselves feel better.
Is this a reaction to Dr. (I use that title with disgust) Gosnell being pulled out of service? I will deal with him later.
Are we keeping up with the (Joneses) East Africans?
Now that we have left 17 in the dust and 15 is the new threshold, where will the 'right' for women to make decisions for their our own body end? I still do not understand how that statement works with regards to an abortion since there is another 'body' involved but that is another story. And where does common sense begin?
"You can not escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today."
Abraham Lincoln
Let me get this straight. We tolerate abortions because we should be allowed to choose what is best for us. We provide free contraception to anyone who asks because we want them to avoid being punished with a baby. And we look the other way while the Gosnell's of the world prey on the uneducated. All in the name of preventing unnecessary births. Just in case a baby is born, Child Protection Services reserves the right to take the baby away at their discretion. Do I have this right?
So aren't these reactions just that - reactions? Band aids? If we continue to treat underage and unwanted pregnancies like we treat the 'War on Poverty', by giving more and more to those in need while expecting less and less effort from them, we will soon need to re-visit the 15 year old age threshold and / or come up with new solutions. Maybe lollipops with the Plan B active ingredient inside?
Values are taught and learned at every socioeconomic level. They are not exclusive to the rich, any particular ethnic or religious or even age group. The question is are we teaching them? Are we applying as much effort to teaching values as we are to covering up the absence of those values? I know kids don't always listen, I didn't. I am afraid that more than ever, we may not even be talking to them.
Consider these abortion demographics:
58% were under 20
64% were minorities
85% were unmarried
29% were co-habitating
61% had at least one other child
42% were poor
And interestingly, they were more likely to have a college degree and less likely to have a religious affiliation.
Is it any wonder then, that Kermit Gosnell stepped in to supply the demand created by our ever decreasing sense of moral direction? Make no mistake, this is the culmination of a trend in American society to take the 'life' out of an abortion. And FYI, this is not Kermit's first rodeo. Mothers Day Massacre 1972.
A 15 year old girl is not a woman and we do not need monsters like Gosnell, or, for that matter, the government, under the guise of helping the poor or otherwise unfortunate, telling us she is a woman.
We need to teach our girls, and boys, values.
Our government can help by setting the example. When our leaders live the life of rock stars and schmooze with pop culture icons whose bad behavior seems endless, they are sending us the wrong message. We need our leaders to model the values and behaviors absent from many in the demographics above. More regulations, agencies and czars are just not getting the job done. Correcting these lifestyle behaviors will make the biggest impact on this issue. It does take a village. A village with leaders who live and teach values, inspiring us to do the same.
While values drive behaviors, principles govern consequences.
Stephen Covey
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